Chelle was prancing around the room happily. She was excited about having a new pair of
shoes and just couldn't sit still. She wanted to show them to everyone she knew.

Her older sister, Chantay, wasn't happy at all. In fact, she was sitting in a corner, pouting
and muttering to herself. "It just isn't fair," she was thinking. "She gets to play and I have
to work. She gets new shoes, and I have to wear my old ones. I'm sure Mom and Dad love her more
than they love me."

Seeing Chantay sitting in the corner, looking so sad, made her mother sad, too. She quietly
lifted her older daughter into her arms and gave her a big hug. She began to explain that things
are not always as they appear. Chantay didn't even realize this was the very first pair of brand
new shoes that Chelle had ever had. Since Chantay was the oldest and grew faster, she was the
one that got new shoes, and when she outgrew them, they were passed down to Chelle.

Her mother reminded her of the fun she had at a party, which Chelle was too young to attend.
She assured Chantay that she loved her just as much as her younger sister, but that since she is
older, that love is shown in different ways. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Chantay gave her mother
a hug. With a big smile now replacing that sad frown, she took her little sister by the hand and
began to prance around the room with her.

Joseph was out in the fields, helping his older brothers feed the animals. There were cows,
sheep, goats, and just about every other kind of farm animal. There was a lot of work that needed
to be done and everyone had to lend a hand.

After the chores were finished, they went home to eat a nice meal. They talked about the events
of the day. Then Joseph's father called Joseph away from his other brothers and handed him a
gift.

Joseph was very surprised, because he had not expected this. Carefully, he unfolded the
garment, put it on, and tied the belt around his waist. It was the most beautiful coat he had
ever seen, made with lamb's wool which had been dyed with all the colors of the rainbow.

Joseph's eyes were glowing with pleasure because of this beautiful gift his father had just given him. He
rushed into the room where his brothers were talking. "LOOK!" he cried out excitedly. "SEE MY
NEW COAT! ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?" he exclaimed.

Joseph's brothers were not as happy about the coat as he was. In fact, they were ANGRY. They
were jealous because they thought their father loved him more than them. They were so jealous that
they hated Joseph and couldn't even say anything kind to him.

Joseph didn't let the attitude of his angry brothers upset him. He was happy and slept
peacefully. The next morning, he gathered his brothers together. "I want you to listen to this
dream I had last night," he said to them.

"We were all in the fields, bundling wheat into sheaves. My sheaf of wheat stood straight
up. All of your sheaves of wheat bent over as if they were bowing down to mine."

The brothers listened impatiently as Joseph was telling his dream. "Do you actually think
YOU are going to rule over us, and WE are going to bow down to you?" they asked
with a smirk.

Imagine their surprise when Joseph said, "Wait! That's not all! I had another dream. In the
second dream, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me!"

This made the brothers even more angry than they had ever been. "How can you possibly think
that your mother, your father, and all of us are going to bow down to you?" With that, they left
Joseph standing there, and they went off to the fields to do the work for the day.

While they were working, they were discussing Joseph, his new coat, and his dreams. The more
they talked, the more ANGRY they became. "We have got do something about that foolish, dreaming,
young brother of ours. We already knew that our father loved him more than the rest of us. Then
he received a new coat that he just wants to show off. Now he is telling us about these ridiculous
dreams. We need to come up with a plan to get rid of him."

The brothers talked, argued, planned, and schemed, first one idea and then another. Finally one
of them said, "Let's pick him up and throw him into that deep pit over there until we can decide
on a better plan." So that is exactly what they did. They took Joseph's beautiful coat away
from him, and then threw him into the pit. They all sat down to eat their lunch, happy that Joseph wasn't
eating with them. Now they didn't have to listen to his foolish talk about all his dreams.

While they were eating, they saw a caravan of camels in the distance. As the
camels came closer, they discovered that the men were merchants from the
country of Midian. The brothers thought,
"This is even better than we had hoped. We can sell Joseph as a slave to
these merchants. Then
we will divide the money among us."

They went to the pit and helped Joseph
out of it. They sold him to the Midianites. They were pleased with themselves
until one of them thought, "Oh, no! What
are we going to tell Father?"

Quickly they thought of another scheme. They killed an animal and put some of the blood on the
beautiful coat. When they showed the coat to their father, he immediately thought that Joseph had
been killed by a wild animal. It was a very mean trick these brothers had played on their father.
He was sad for a very, very long time, because he thought Joseph was dead.

The Midianite merchants found that they had made a good choice in buying Joseph from the
brothers. He was a strong, healthy young man, and they were able to sell him quickly to a man
named Potiphar, who was from Egypt. Potiphar was a captain in Egypt and knew King Pharaoh very
well. He was a wealthy man with a very large house and many servants.

Even though Joseph was far away from home, he never forgot the teachings of his father.
He never became angry with his brothers for treating him so badly. He was righteous and honest
in all his dealings, and he loved the Lord very much. The Lord was with Joseph and helped him
to become prosperous.

Potiphar noticed what an outstanding man Joseph had become and honored him
by making him the ruler of everything in his house. With Joseph in charge, Potiphar became even
more wealthy, because the Lord was blessing HIM because of Joseph.

THINK!

Why did the brothers hate Joseph?
Why is jealousy such a bad thing?
How do you know God was with Joseph when he was in the pit?
How do you know God was with Joseph when he was in Egypt?

REMEMBER:

God ALWAYS knows and cares about what is happening to you. Even when bad things happen, God can
make something good out of the situation.

A VERSE TO LEARN

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God..." (Romans 8:28a).

LET'S PRAY

****************************************************
Dear God, thank You for being with us in every
situation. Help us to remember that You love us
and You know exactly what is happening all the time.
Help us not to get jealous or angry when others
have things that we do not have.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
****************************************************

Tie-dye a T-shirt. This way each child can personally design their own shirt and each time they wear it, they will be reminded that God is with them always, they are special to him, and that His love "covers" them through all situations and circumstances. (I work with a lot of children from dyfunctional families who go through horror stories on a regular basis. They need to know God is with them at all times.) Basically all you need to do is have several different bowls of clothing dye, a t-shirt for each child, and rubber bands. Tightly wrap rubber bands intermittently around different parts of the white t-shirt. Dip only portions of the shirt into difference colors. Let dry, remove bands and praise the Lord, you have a "shirt" of many colors.

Should it be a smaller church or a lot of children, to defray the expense, you could purchase white handkerchiefs at a dollar store and do the same thing. This would give each child something to place under their pillow or carry with them as a reminder.

With your picture to color of Joseph, you could have pre-prepared strips of tissue paper to be glued on the picture or you could use construction paper as well. I have found tissue paper is sometimes easier to use because it is not as stiff and "turns corners" better.